Before The Fall
by KalvinKaos
Summary: A story I created to be an explanation of what could've taken place before Finny fell off the branch, and that might've given Gene reason to make Gene fall on purpose if he did . It was written for en English project in 11th grade, hope you enjoy it.


**Before The Fall**

2/27/2001

Finny had finished doing his sit-ups. He had done 50 in less than one minute without breaking a sweat. He had always said, "I could do more, but sit-ups are so boring." Gene had always read a book while Finny did his morning exercises, preferring to exercise his brain, seemingly Gene's only strong muscle. He put down the book Macbeth, and got up from the chair he was lazing in.

"So, did he get the girl yet?" Finny said referring to the book.

"No, he already has the girl- er, he's married."

"What? And it drags on after that? I thought the knight in shining armor gets the girl after defeating some tyrannous villain, and they all live happily ever after."

"No, this isn't a gothic, it's a tragedy. It's just about all Shakespeare wrote, or at least was famous for. It has a sad ending where some tragic mishap befalls the main character." Stated Gene, then added, "So far though, it's not as good as Hamlet."

"If there's anymore than the scenario hero fights villain, gets fair maiden, lives happily ever after, then someone's just cramming too much rubbish down your throat."

"It's not rubbish! It's good reading."

"Nonsense! There always has to be a 'happily ever after'. You know why? 'Cuz it's too unrealistic, yet it's also what everyone wants to believe. Reading is supposed to be an escape at best, for relaxation if you like being cooped up inside all day. If there's no 'happily ever after', then it's too real, and it's just a documentary." Finny explained.

"I think this book was based on a true story, I'm not sure though." Gene said sounding unsure of himself.

"Why does it matter? Why are we still talking about this?" Exclaimed Finny. Gene had wished he knew more on the subject so he had had a more supportive argument. Instead, he just tried to let it slide, wondering why he was beginning to get frustrated.

"You know what you should do? You should start doing some exercises, take up a sport or something productive instead of filling your head with this nonsense. Come join me, I'm going for a jog." Finny said as he tied up his tennis shoes and headed for the door, expecting Gene to leap at his side.

"It's not nonsense! If you actually read more than four sentences a day, reading a whole book would mean something to you." Gene snapped. Finny stood in the doorway for a few minutes, waiting for Gene move from the defensive stance he had taken up in front of his book.

"Coming?" Finny beckoned for Gene to follow him. Gene turned his back on him rebelliously, looked outside at the morning summer sun shining on the grass wet from a light early morning shower. He sighed.

"Yeah." He replied weakly, then turned and followed Finny out.

"And happily ever after" Said Finny as he slowed his pace for Gene to catch up.

Finny had taken three laps around the entire sports field, while Gene had just walked about lazily, watching Finny, the sky, anything else of slight interest. Finny hadn't opposed to Gene not participating in the jog, he didn't seem to care at all just as long as Gene kept him company by remaining in the vicinity. The war, what a silly thought. Gene rolled the idea over in his mind, of many gruff manly men dressed in camouflage, running at strange foreigners, defending their own strange country, death claims over all. It seemed too fantastic, too fabulous to be true. It was like a fairytale, a strange and twisted fairytale where there was no real hero, not just one villain, but many, and no true fair maiden. It seemed like a fairytale abused blatantly.

Finny finished up his fifth lap, and came to a stop a few yards away from Gene. He caught his breath, a few sweat drops rolled down his brow before he wiped them aside with his hand.

"It sure is a pretty day." Commented Finny.

"Sure is." Muttered Gene.

"What could we do today that's productive?" Wondered Finny aloud. The thought of jumping out of the tree into the river popped into his head, but he dismissed it, for the water would probably be just a few degrees too cold. "How about a small contest?" Suggested Finny.

"A what?"

"A contest, between the brains and the brawn. I'll be the brawn, and of course, you'll be the brains. And as the brains, you can think up the second event, and I'll think up the last. There will only be three events."

"What about the first one?"

"The first one would be one of both brain and brawn, a test of bravery. But we both already passed that by jumping out the tree. So far we're tied."

"And if I win?" Queried Gene.

"Then brains will always be better, and I'll take up reading. But if I win then brawn will always be better and you'll have to take up daily exercises AND a sport."

"That's not fair, you get two things if you win."

"Fine, then I'll start studying as well. So, what'll be the second event?"

Choosing a reading contest took next to no time to come up with. And Gene had picked Hamlet, which he had read many times before and knew the whole story like the back of his hand. Fortunately Finny hadn't thought of that. They both had to read act three scene one, and whoever finished first had to explain all that happened, and if done correctly, they won that event. Leper had agreed to judge, having read the book somewhat recently.

Gene started skimming it, but since he already knew it, decided to slow down and watch Finny's progress from the corner of his eye. He skimmed through until he got to the part where Hamlet yells at Ophelia, then he checked Finny's progress. Finny appeared to be skimming through very quickly. Gene decided not to prolong it anymore. He closed the book and slammed it on the table.

"Done!" He said proudly. Finny glanced up, very little surprise shown through his mask of utter boredom.

"OK, what was the chapter about?" Asked Leper. Gene told the whole scene, with as much detail possible, never for once taking his eyes off Finny (watching for any visible emotion change), nor letting a smile slip on his face. When he had finished, Leper declared Gene winner. Finny threw the book on the floor.

"So what if he could read a scene in a play fast? How does that show any brains? You could've read the book a million times, or heard the play on the radio. That didn't count, that wasn't even fair!" Outraged Finny. Gene would have protested that it was fair, but he had caught him in having read the book many times. But Finny's behavior was still inexcusable.

"Fine! I quit! I forfeit and you win, is that what you wanted to hear? You win. That's all you care about, a happy ending for Finny, where Finny comes out on top and it doesn't matter who he stepped on or crushed to get there." Exploded Gene. Leper didn't know who's side to take, so he just sat there flipping through the book, looking very interested in the story.

"Alright, you won that one then. That means one tie, one victory for you, but don't you want to do the last event? You've already got a head start, and even if I win, we'll both just be tied, and we can break it with some silly trivia question, a brainy one like on those radio quiz shows." Bargained Finny. It sounded like he really wanted just to compete, not to actually win. How had he managed to sound like that?

"Fine, but what is it?"

Gene had been furious that Finny made him wait until night fall for the last event. It was bad enough he wouldn't tell him the last event, but to hold it off until nightfall was completely obnoxious of him. They had somehow convinced Leper to come with them to continue to judge them in the final event.

"So, will you tell me what we're going to be doing now?" Asked Gene impatiently.

"Oh fine, as long as you stop whining." Replied Finny. "It'll be a race, and you'll get a five second head start."

"Are you sure? I could easily win that way." Remarked Gene sarcastically.

"Yes, it's possible, but it'll make it more of a challenge for me that way." Responded Finny nonchalantly. Rage sweltered in Gene's chest, Finny still thought it would be a little more than a challenge for him. He knew he could win this, he knew he could beat Gene, so he gave him a small advantage. Finny knew he could beat Gene, the bookworm. Silently Gene took his place at the small line marked with old dirty, hole infested sweat socks. The finish line was the same. "This will be from here to the end of the field. Leper's out there by the finish line to judge who's first. I'll let you go, then count to five, then I'll go. Ready?"

"Ready."

"Go!" Gene raced off down the field. He ran as fast as he could, counting as he ran. When he counted five he turned around to see Finny racing after him. But Gene was so far ahead of him, there was no way he could still win. Gene slackened his pace a little. He decided to slow down a little, to let Finny catch up, then with just enough space between them, he'd race off leaving Finny in his dust. Soon Gene realized this was just another fairytale. Finny was the athletic one, he could pull this off, he should be in Gene's position. Finny should be the one to win the race, he should always win. But Gene would never win, no. He would never lose though, just not win.

He glanced behind him to see Finny just six feet away from him, his feet pounding the ground, breathing slightly hard, moving to his own beat, and gaining on Gene. Gene ran from him. He ran like he was being chased, and he was. He ran like he had to win, and he did, but he wouldn't. Finny plodded right up beside Gene, barely exerting himself, while Gene was breathing heavy, sweating profusely, his sides aching, his lungs burning, and running as fast as he could. Yet Finny wasn't even going as fast as he could, he used some speed to catch up, now he was just hanging there. Soon, he would zip past Gene like a roadrunner, leaving him in a cloud of dust, a hungry coyote, hungry to win but prone to starve.

In slow motion Finny went ahead of Gene. Gene pushed himself harder, started to gain, but couldn't go any faster, and Finny continued to leave him behind. Gene fought hard to stay with him, his eyes burning into Finny's side, watching him move like a machine, like a metronome. Step, breathe, step, breathe. That was Finny's rhythm. And Gene's erratic motion just burnt him out. He was concentrating so much on staying with Finny, that he didn't see the mud hole in front of him. Gene's left foot sunk into the muddy water, slipped behind him, brought him crashing to the ground. In his last desperate movement, he reached out a hand and grasped for Finny. He got a hold of his ankle, and holding on tightly, pulled on Finny's ankle with all his might. Finny slowly lost his balance, and came crashing down as well. But even his fall was graceful. It was like watching the Hindenburg, it filled him with emotion, but that emotion was hatred. Finny fell face down and splatted in another mud hole. He immediately pushed himself up, and faced Gene.

"What did you do that for? Now we'll never know who officially won!" Exclaimed Finny angrily. Who? This was supposed to be between brains and brawn, not between Finny and Gene. Officially? Like it wasn't clear enough that Finny would always be the winner, the one out on top. All he cared about was winning.

"Why does it matter? We all know you're the winner! You're always the winner! You never lose! Neither do the losers! To you they're not losers, just non-winners! You always win! You always get the happy ending!" Shouted Gene. Leper had ran up to them as soon as they had fallen, but now he just stood there, unsure of what to do or whether to interfere.

"You're a winner too! You're real smart, that's your gift. You'll get some high paying job, and grow to be a powerful, intelligent man who crushes little muscle-heads like me."

"So I can't crush you now, huh?" Gene leapt at Finny, who easily dodged it and Gene was sent flying into the mud again. But Gene lashed out with his right leg, and knocked Finny's feet from under him. As Finny hit the mud, and Gene leapt on top of him to start pounding him.

"Stop! This isn't right! You two are friends!" Leper protested , but his protests went unheard. With that, rain started to fall, as if to help aid Leper to break up the two rivaling friends. But this too was ignored. As Gene tried to strangle Finny, Leper ran towards the dormitories, whether to notify authoritative figures, to run from the rain, or to run from the battle, no one knew for sure. But nobody else came. Just Gene and Finny locked in combat. Finny kicked Gene off him, and stood up.

"C'mon! Stop! We've had enough."

"…OK, fine." Finally some sense came to Gene. It was pointless to continue this. It was a battle of strength for which he was no match for Finny, and they would both have to yield to the heavens sometime, as the rain was coming down hard now. They both headed back towards the dormitories, muddy, soaked, exasperated but cooling off.

"The contest was a stupid idea anyway. Contests are useless among friends." Stated Finny solemnly. Gene nodded in agreement. But Gene didn't agree. They couldn't stop this competition, and Gene wouldn't let himself be beat. He would prove yet that brains were better than brawn.

As they entered their dormitory and plodded down the hall, their shoes made wet, sopping noises. Finny opened their dorm room, and let Gene in first.

"And happily ever after." Gene said quietly. His last statement showed his hopes for what the future held.


End file.
